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| Autumn 1995 |
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The Right Lesson? To the editor: Mr. Stern paints the UFT not as a partner but as an obstacle to reform. But the New York City public schools, with 48 new small schools started in the past few years and 50 more in the works, has more radical school change taking place than any urban district in the country. The critical element that has facilitated the creation of these schools is the union contract provision called the School-Based Option Transfer and Staffing Plan, which allows these schools to select their incoming staffs. The Boston contract may allow for a higher degree of autonomy in all schools, but a similar dynamic change process has yet to emerge in Boston. Two years ago Raymond Flynn, then mayor of Boston, waged a Giuliani-like daily war of words with the schools and the union, with a similar lack of results. But once he departed to become ambassador to the Vatican, his appointed school committee agreed to enter into a negotiation with the teachers' union, facilitated by Conflict Management, Inc. It was this type of collaborative bargaining and the support of the new mayor, Thomas M. Menino, that led not only to a precedent-setting contract but also to a broad partnership of the mayor, the business community, higher-education institutions, the school committee, and the teachers' union, through the new Boston Compact agreement. Both agreements call for the same set of reform initiatives. And when the reform partnership was completed in June 1994, the mayor put his money where his mouth was. That's what Mr. Stern should have told Mayor Giuliani and his advisors. Robert Pearlman Sol Stern responds: The good news is that in its current contract talks with the city, the union seems finally to have moved toward the Boston model. In general terms it has offered to allow all schools in the system to make their own staffing decisions. If the UFT proves to be serious about this, it will have earned our applause-but there's no need to rewrite history. Better Treatment To the editor: The claim that "New York lacks even a certification procedure for counselors" is false. New York has certified more than 2,500 credentialed substance abuse counselors. The rigorous credentialing process requires that counselors acquire 3,360 hours of full-time work experience in the field, 220 hours of supervised practical training, and 450 hours of approved education. In describing outpatient programs, it is also a fallacy for Dr. Satel to state that the bulk of treatment is provided "by counselors with no formal education beyond a high school diploma or two-year community college degree." In fact, approximately 55 percent of New York's credentialed substance abuse counselors have a master's degree or higher. The claim that methadone "shifts rather than solves" the drug problem is inaccurate and misleading. Methadone is used only to treat addiction to heroin and other narcotics. As a pharmacological agent, it is ineffective with other, non-narcotic drugs like cocaine and alcohol. Nevertheless, methadone treatment programs employ counseling and other techniques to assist patients in overcoming dependence on other drugs. Jean Sommers Miller Sally Satel responds: York deserves credit for taking steps to improve the quality of drug counselors, not all states are so cognizant of the problem. As my article noted, most outpatient programs nationwide employ counselors with no formal education beyond a high school diploma or a two-year college degree. Methadone is indeed effective only in the treatment of narcotic use—the use, that is, of such opiates as heroin. This is why it shifts rather than solves the drug problem. Many methadone patients also abuse such non-opiates as cocaine or alcohol, and the psychological and social services some methadone clinics offer are too often inadequate to make any appreciable difference. Oops To the editor: Janice L. Shapiro Getting Action To the editor: Vito J. Fossella
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